Video: Utah Deputy Frees Moose Tangled in Swing Set

We know that at some point, all of us must shuffle off this mortal coil. The bummer is, you never know exactly when, where, or how it’s going to happen. You could die in a perfectly mundane (if also perfectly deadly) way like a car accident, drowning, choking on a hot dog, or a terminal illness. Or, if you’re really lucky (or unlucky, depending on your point of view), you could die in some extremely rare, extremely bizarre combination of mundane and totally weird. Like being trampled to death in a backyard by an enraged moose caught in a child’s swing set…

Yeah, that’s right: an enraged moose, a child’s swingset, and the threat of instant, messy hooved death, all captured on tape.

A Utah deputy was forced to rescue a moose this week after its antlers became stuck in the chains of a backyard swing set. Sergeant Lane Findlay found himself face to face with the moose and had to use bolt cutters to free the animal from the swing set. The Weber County Sheriff’s deputy received the call on Sunday and responded to a residential community outside Ogden, about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City. He said the moose appeared distressed and was bleeding. Findlay said he handed his mobile phone to an onlooker and asked the person to shoot video, telling him, “If something happens to me, give this to my wife.”

“If something happens to me, give this to my wife.” That’s my pick for awesome quote of the week, right there. When you’re facing the possibility of a death like that, what else can you say, right? We’re happy to report that Sgt. Findlay coolly approached the moose, cut the chains and freed Bullwinkle, who trotted off with minor injuries.